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Fiat Linea Classic Review

Fiat India has brought back the first Linea as the Linea Classic after the car received an update in 2012. The Linea Classic finds the sweet spot between giving up looks for practicality, and sacrificing practicality at the altar of beauty. The two-part grille and twin-pod lights enliven things up at the front, and flow into the wheel arches, waistline and windscreen. The only external clue that distinguishes the diesel from the petrol lies on the grille: a discreet 'Multijet' badge sits to the left of the Fiat badge.
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Fiat India has brought back the first Linea as the Linea Classic after the car received an update in 2012. The Linea Classic finds the sweet spot between giving up looks for practicality, and sacrificing practicality at the altar of beauty. The two-part grille and twin-pod lights enliven things up at the front, and flow into the wheel arches, waistline and windscreen. The only external clue that distinguishes the diesel from the petrol lies on the grille: a discreet 'Multijet' badge sits to the left of the Fiat badge.

The side view also brings out the staid three-box profile of the car which somehow doesn't seem unexciting at all where the Linea is concerned. It's probably because of those wonderful alloy rims on the top-end variants, whose multi-spoke design, as with all Fiat alloy rims, will make you want to steal them if you own a Fiat. At the rear, the Linea echoes the front with the boot-lid and bumper mirroring each other, and a row of three reflectors in each tail-lamp.

The interiors of the Linea have Italian styling influences. The beige and black interiors with the silver centre console is simple and most of the controls are user-friendly. The interiors have been ergonomically designed. The mirrors are electrically adjustable, but need to be folded manually. Driving at night is never an issue with the bright twin-barrel headlamps. The Linea has a centrally integrated audio system that plays a single disc with USB connectivity in the glove box which can be slightly difficult to locate. The controls that are mounted on the steering wheel control the audio system through the Blue&Me - some sub-menus of which like hooking up your phone via Bluetooth can take a bit of time to understand.

The seating position in the Linea is more than adequate. There are a fair number of storage spaces for knick-knacks, but there is a lack of functional cup holders in the Linea. The doors won't hold any bottles, and keep a large-sized milkshake from McDonald's in the cup holders ahead of the gear lever, and they will tip thanks to the protruding centre console. This brings the total number of useful cup holders in the Linea to two, both of which lie in the centre armrest at the rear.

The Fiat Linea Classic is available with two engine variants, the the 1.4-litre FIRE petrol engine and the 1.3-litre multijet diesel engine which even powers some Maruti Suzuki and Tata cars like the Swift, Swift Dzire, Bolt and Zest. Both engines are transversely placed and power the front wheels through a 5-speed manual transmission. The Linea petrol possesses a 1368cc four-pot motor that generates 90bhp and 115Nm of torque and is also mated to a five-speed manual gearbox driving the front wheels.

The Linea Classic competes in an extremely competitive segment - the C-segment sedan. It takes on the Honda City, Maruti Ciaz, Volkswagen Vento, Skoda Rapid and the Hyundai Verna. As of today, the car feels dated when compared to others but a lower price tag means it gets in to consideration for the car-buying decision.